Free Ride: Crossing Borders Between Pop, Rock & Soul

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A soundtrack to a Californian road trip with a little bit of police trouble along the way… All songs are in the twilight zone somewhere between pop, rock and soul. Enjoy!

Canadian singer-songwriter R. Dean Taylor is one of the most underrated acts ever to record for Motown Records. Although he wrote lots of chart-topping singles, like Love Child for The Supremes, his own single Gotta See Jane received no promotion in the US, when it was released in 1967. It was picked up in Europe and it became a hit in the Netherlands and the UK. Only his song Indiana Wants Me was a top ten hit in both the US and UK, in 1970, but it did not reach the charts in the Netherlands. It came out on the Rare Earth label, formed by Motown in an attempt to establish itself in the rock music market. The police siren sounds at the start of the record were removed from some copies supplied to radio stations after complaints that drivers hearing the song on the radio had mistakenly pulled over, thinking that the sounds were real.

The track by glam rock band Sweet is a tribute to their bass player Steve Priest. who passed away this month. He is the lead vocalist on California Nights. The Sweet recorded some extraordinary pop/rock singles during the 1970s. although John Lennon once called glam rock “just rock & roll with lipstick on”, according to David Bowie in an interview.

Another sad loss was the death of Fountains of Wayne singer and founder Adam Schlesinger who died of Covid-19 on April 1st. He was just 52 years of age.

Bruce Hibbard was part of a musical family, and was introduced to many different instruments and music styles at a really young age. In a typical American story, he soon began playing at the church where his parents were involved, and as a teenager had already starting penning his own Christian rock tunes. After working with several bands and releasing his solo album A Light Within, the Christian rock label Word discovered and signed him. Never Turnin’ Back was released by the sub-label 'Myrrh'.

Tracklist:

Kraak & Smaak (Feat. Satchmode) – Don't Want This To Be Over [Knight One Remix] (2020)
Chromatics – The Telephone Call (2010)
Geyster – A Stranger On The Road (2018)
Jessie Frye & Ollie Wride – Malibu Broken (2020)
Midas Hutch Feat. Jinbo & Jason Lee – Drive Around (2019)
Benjamin Orr ‎– Stay The Night (1986)
The Lagoons – California (2017)
Sweet – California Nights (1978)
Steely Dan – The Fez (1976)
Phil Carmen ‎– On My Way In L.A. (1985)
Chicago – Life Is What It Is (1979)
Greg Phillinganes ‎– Lazy Nina (1985)
FCC – Let The Love On Through (1980)
Bruce Hibbard ‎– Never Turnin' Back (1980)
Michael Wycoff – Looking Up To You (1982)
The Gene Dunlap Band – There’s Talk (1983)
The Breakfast Band – L.A. 14 (1981)
Lee Ritenour Feat. Eric Tagg – Sunset Drivers (1984)
Joel Sarakula – Midnight Driver (2020)
Larsen Feiten Band – Danger Zone (1980)
Con Funk Shun – California 1 (1981)
Robert Palmer – You Overwhelm Me (1978)
Steve Miller Band – Take The Money And Run (1976)
Cate Bros. – Give It All To You (1976)
Edgar Winter Group – Free Ride (1973)
Hot Chocolate – Heaven Is In The Back Seat Of My Cadillac (1976)
R. Dean Taylor – Indiana Wants Me (1970)
Fountains Of Wayne – Trains And Boats And Planes (2003)
Joesef – The Sun Is Up Forever (2020)
Roxy Music – Love Is The Drug (1975)
Barrabas – Take A Wilde Ride (1975)